Mechanism for maintaining alignment of an apron in a textile machine



Dec. 15, 1953 T. A. DOURDEVILLE 2,662,767

MECHANISM FOR MAINTAINING ALIGNMENT OF AN APRON IN A TEXTILE MACHINEFiled April 4, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

I20 THEODORE A. DOURDEVILLE;

34 BY I 35 HgBa fi Dec. 15, 1953 T A. DOURDEVILLE 2,662,767

MECHANISM FOR MAINTAINING ALIGNMENT OF AN APRON IN A TEXTILE MACHINEFiled April 4, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

THEODORE A DOURDEVILLE.

Patented Dec. 15, 1953 MECHANISM FOR MAINTAINING ALIGN- MENT OF AN APRONIN A TEXTILE MACHINE Theodore A. Dourdeville, Holden, Mass., assig'norto David Gessner Company, Worcester, Mass., a corporation ofMassachusetts Application April 4, 1951, Serial N 0. 219,235

1 Claim. 1

This invention relates to mechanism for maintaining alignment of anapron in a. textile machine and more particularly in a cloth finishingmachine. In such machines, the cloth to be treated is wound onto a largecylinder or drum, in conjunction with an apron which may be severalhundred feet in length.

It has been found dimcult to make this apron travel in a straight line,and great care and constant attention are necessary to prevent the apronfrom shifting its path of travel axially of the drum, and particularlyas the diameter of the roll of fabric increases. Frequently, also, theselvage portions of such an apron are purposely woven soft and flexiblefor better sealing of the cloth during a steaming operation, and thesesoft and flexible selvages increase the difficulty of accurately guidingthe apron.

It is the general object of my invention to provide simplified mechanismfor maintaining apron travel in a desired alignment and for preventingsubstantial axial deviation therefrom.

To the attainment of this general object, I have provided a movablymounted guide-roll, together With an improved feeler device andautomatic means to change the angular position of the guide-roll inaccordance with any substantial transverse deviation of the apron fromthe desired path of travel.

My invention further relates to arrangements and combinations of partswhich will be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out inthe appended claim.

A preferred form of the invention is shown in the drawings, in whichFig. 1 is a partial side elevation of a cloth finishing machineembodying my invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional end view, taken along the line 22 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the shifting of theguide-roll axis and as it would appear when looking in the direction ofthe arrow 3 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3a is a detail view to be described;

Fig. 4. is a perspective view of the feeler device and associated parts;

Fig. 5 is a side elevation thereof, looking substantially in thedirection of the arrow 5 in Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a perspective View of the supporting bearing for the oppositeend of the guide-roll and also showing means for raising and loweringthe bearing; and

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view of the operating connections between thefeeler switch and the hydraulic devices for raising and lowering theroll bearing.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2, I have shown my invention as embodied in acloth finishing machine having a large perforated cylinder or steam drumH), a hydraulic motor II for rotating the drum, and a storage roll I2adapted to be rotated by a chain l4 and sprocket 15 from any usualsource of power.

An apron A is drawn from this storage roll I2 and is wound on the drum10 after passing over a guide-bar 85, approaching a guide-roll 20substantially horizontally, passing under said guideroll 20 (Fig. 1) andaround a pressure roll 22 which is mounted in the upper ends of swingingarms 24 and which may be pressed against the apron and. fabric as it iswound on the drum, such pressure being applied by a hydraulic cylinderand piston indicated generally at 26.

The cloth C is guided to the drum It around tension bars 30 and over theroll 22, so that the cloth and apron are wound simultaneously on thedrum I0 and in superposed layers. The angular disposition of the bars 30may be shifted to vary the cloth tension.

Steam supply and drainage connections 32 and 33 (Fig. 2) provide forpreheating the cylinder or drum [0 and removing condensation therefrom.

My present invention relates particularly to the means provided forsupporting the guide-roll 20 and for vertically shifting the angularposition of the axis of the roll in accordance with apron deviation.

At its right-hand end, as viewed in Fig. 2, the shaft 34 of the roll 20is loosely mounted in a fixed bearing 35 (Fig. 3a) on a bottom framemember 36 of the machine. The roll shaft 34 has a slightly loose fit inthe bearing 35, so that the opposite end of the roll and shaft can beslightly raised or lowered without causing the shaft 34 to bind in itsbearing 35.

At the opposite or left-hand end of the roll 2b as viewed in Fig. 2, theroll shaft 34 (Fig. 6) is supported in a bearing 40 mounted in an arm 42pivoted on a stud 43 fixed in a bracket 44 mounted on a bottom framemember 45. The bearing 48 is preferably of an antifriction type whichwill permit raising and lowering of the arm 12 without binding the rollshaft 34.

Stop screws '46 and M are threaded in lugs 43 and 49 on the arm 42 andmay be adjusted to limit the upward or downward swinging movement of thearm 42, check nuts being provided to maintain the adjustment.

A heavy coil spring so tends to swing the arm 42 upward and to raise theadjacent end of the roll 20, while a single-acting hydraulic cylinder 5iand piston 52 act through a piston rod 53 and cross pin 54 to push thearm as downward.

The operating connections for the cylinder 5! are shown in Fig. 7 andcomprise a pipe at connected to a three-way valve V which has a supplypipeei for liquid u'nder pressure and an exhaust pipe 6'2. A piston asin the valve V is mounted on a piston rod 85 which is normally pusheddownward by a spring 59 but which may be drawn upward by a solenoid 6?when a err: cuit therethrough is completed at a switch 18. The switch to(Figs. 4 and 5) is preferably of the mercury type and is fixed at theupper end of a lever 12 mounted on pivot studs '33 in a bracket M boltedto a fixed upright frame member F of the finishing machine. 7

A block 75 is connected to the lower end of the arm or lever 72 by pivotstuds 18, and a feeler rod 89 is adjustably secured in the block i5 by abinding screw 81. The leit-hand endof the feeler rod 86, as viewed inFig.4, is held in a desired vertical position byfa light flexible cord82, the upper end of which is connected to an arm or bracket which isclamped on an adjacent fixed cross rod 85. t H

At its free end, the ieeler rod til is bent upward as indicated at $9and then laterally at SS, and isinclined upwardly at 92. The uprightportion 98' is positioned for enga ement with the adjacent selvag'e edgeor the apron A, and the disposition of the parts is asshown in Fig. 4,when the apron is travelling slightly to the left of mid position.

if the apron A deviates to the right in Fig. 4, the arm 12 will beturned anti-clockwise, thus closing a circuit from the line ire L (Fig.7) through the solenoid 6'1 switch it to the line wire L. The solenoidS? then draws the piston rod E55 and piston 54 upward to close off thesupply pipe 9i and to connect the upper end of the cylinder 5! to theexhau t pipe e2. Thisallows the spring 56 to swing the arm 42 and theadjacentend of the cylinder 20' upward.

As the apron A always tends t travel to the higher end of the guide-roll25), the apron will now travel to the left in Fig. 4 until the feelerrod as has returned to the position shown in Fig. 4, thereby breakingthe circuit through the switch it.

The spring st will then depress the pistonst and connect the cylinder 5!to the supply pipe 6|. The piston 52 will then actto swing the arm 42and the adjacent end of the r611 29 downward and the apron will start areturn travel to the right. t v

in the ordinary operation of the machine, the roll Ziiis shifteddownward or upward, within relatively close limits but does not at anytime operate in exactly horizontal position.

The successive operative positions of the axis of the roll 20 are asindicated in Fig. 3, in which the full line a indicates the position ofthe guideroll axis with the parts as shown in Fig. '7, and the dottedline 1) indicates the position of the guide-roll axis when the circuithas been completed through the switch it and the cylinder 5i is open toexhaust.

Obviously the successive shifting of the roll 20 above or belowhorizontal position may produce a slight hunting action of the apron butthis is too small to be objectionable, and this construction is muchsimpler than would be re quired to'bri'ng thev apron back to exactmid-position after each transverse deviation.

This mechanism has been thoroughly tested commercially and has beenfound to be extremely satistactory and reliable when in operation underthe rather difficult conditions herein set forth. Y

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof; i'd'o notwish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than asset forth in the claim, but what I claim is:

Ina mechanism for winding a strip of material, feele'r apparatuscomprising a pivotally mounted arm, circuit-closing means controlled bysaid arm, a block swiveled to one end of said arm, a rod mounted in anopening in said block and extending horizontally a substantial distaiicetherefrom, means to secure said rod in adjusted axial position in saidblock, said rod having an offset end port-ion positioned to be engagedby an adjacent edge of said strip of material, a fixed support, andflexible means depending from said support and sustaining the outer endof said rod for free swinging and substantially horizontal movementtoward and away from the path or" travel of the edge of said strip ofmaterial.

THEODORE A. DOURDEVILLE.

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